Another laugh and he vowed that he’d say stupid things all day long if only she’d keep laughing like that.
“All the more reason to live further outside of the city.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged and shifted in the passenger seat. “Because I’m going to need to get away from you. I can imagine you being a real pain in the neck to work with. The further away, the better.” She grinned back at him. “Besides, if I live further outside of Denver, I won’t have to come into the city when it snows. I can simply stay home and revel in the…” her eyes widened when he laughed.
“What?”
He glanced at her as he maneuvered around several cars that were turning onto Speer Boulevard. “When it snows in Washington, D.C., the city shuts down.”
Well, duh! Where was he going with this? It snowed in Denver. She’d seen pictures! “Right. Even the federal government shuts down sometimes.”
He shook his head, chuckling a bit more. “That city shuts down if there’s even the threat of snow.” He looked over at her, a smug smile on his handsome features. “Here in Denver, we sweep it away and keep on going.”
She shifted in her seat and he glanced at her. The smile on her pretty lips made him ache to kiss her, to feel her soft lips under his.
“Or get out the skis, right?”
He laughed outright at that. “Exactly.”
He noticed her head tilt slightly. “I suppose I should get a different car.”
He thought about the cute red roadster she’d been driving while living in Virginia. “That might be a good idea.” Reid thought she’d look perfect in a car just like this one. “We’ll go shopping for cars tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened, but he noticed she didn’t turn him down. Not that he was giving her any chance to say no. “Also, I know of the perfect place for you to live. The rent is reasonable, two bedrooms with twenty-five hundred square feet, pool access, fitness area with state of the art equipment, closer to downtown than anything you’ve looked at so far, has a full washer and dryer, and free maid and dinner service.”
Selena frowned at him, not sure he hadn’t just lost it. “I already looked at the apartments closer to headquarters. They are well out of my price range.”
His lips curled slightly but he didn’t look at her. “The rent on this place is reasonable.”
He turned onto Alameda and, a few blocks later, pulled into the driveway of a gorgeous, huge house. “What’s this?” she asked, thinking it was an apartment complex that she hadn’t seen before.
“Come with me,” he parked under a portico. He stepped out of the car, then waited for her to come around. “How’s this?” he asked a moment later. They’d walked around a beautiful pool with a pergola covering one end to give it a bit of shade.
“This is beautiful.” She looked around, swiveling her head. “Where are the other residents?”
He took her hand and led her through a sliding glass door. “Here. Combined kitchen and living room area. There are two bedrooms through there. One is larger than the other, but both have private bathrooms and walk in closets. Washer and dryer are off the kitchen pantry area,” he said, leading her through the kitchen to a closed door where a utility room had a modern washer and dryer complete with just about everything she could need.
Turning around, she took in the gorgeous furniture, the elaborate lighting and the gourmet kitchen. Something occurred to her and she looked directly at him. “Who lives here?” she demanded, suspiciously.
“No one lives here. It is yours if you want it. Put your furniture in storage and use this furniture, or move this out and move your own in. Up to you.”
She peered around him at the huge house on the other side of the pool. “Okay then, who lives there?” she asked.
He shrugged. “No one important. Do you want the place or not? If you want it, you can move in here this afternoon. We’ll get you checked out of the hotel and settled in. Then we can go look for storage for your furniture.”
Selena knew a trick when it was coming at her at full speed. Not to mention, she’d gotten to know him a bit over the course of the afternoon. He was stubborn and intuitive, arrogant but with a sweet, protective side. And he was hiding something. Something important.